Palaeontologists claim to have found a 80 million year old fossil in the Gobi desert that could be a key piece of the evolutionary puzzle of how massive dinosaurs gave rise to todays comparatively tiny birds.
Washington, Sept 7 : Palaeontologists claim to have found a 80 million year old fossil in the Gobi desert that could be a key piece of the evolutionary puzzle of how massive dinosaurs gave rise to today's comparatively tiny birds.
The newfound species, dubbed Mahakala omnogovae, measures just 27.5 inches (70 centimetres) from its head to the tip of its feathered tail. It was found in the southern part of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and was named after a Tibetan Buddhist protector deity.
Dinosaur digs over the last decade - including many in China - have suggested that several of the ancient reptiles were covered in feathers, a hint of their potential link to birds.
But few of the fossils have provided direct evidence of the evolutionary changes that led to flight.
Researchers say Mahakala's small size bolsters the idea that some theropods, or bipedal carnivorous dinosaurs, decreased in stature during the evolutionary transition into birds."Miniaturization has long been considered crucial to the origin of flight. Now Mahakala is providing the first signs of some of these early evolutionary steps," said Alan Turner of New York's American Museum of Natural History.
The team reconstructed Mahakala based on fossilized portions of the dinosaur's skull and limbs along with most of its spinal column.
Turner said the fossils indicated that the new species were not only feathered but also likely had winglike forelimbs and hind limbs.
Study co-author and curator at the natural history museum's division of palaeontology, Mark Norell said: "Many of the animals that were thought to look like giant lizards only a few years ago are now known to have been feathered and to have had many other defining bird characteristics".
Scientists believe Mahakala is an offshoot of the group of meat-eating dinosaurs known as dromaeosaurids, which includes the Velociraptor featured in the 1993 movie Jurassic Park.
"If Steven Spielberg were to make another Jurassic Park sequel, many of the dinosaurs that starred in the original film would require a complete makeover. The Velociraptor would be completely covered in feathers," Turner said.
Xu Xing, one of China's leading dinosaur hunters and an expert on the evolution of feathered dinosaurs, said that the new find fitted perfectly into the theory that dinosaurs evolved into birds.
"The discovery of Mahakala and other small birdlike dinosaurs is helping palaeontologists paint new details on the mosaic depicting the first flight-capable birds' ascent from nonavian dinosaurs," said Xu, who was not involved in the new study.
The study appears in the Sept 7 issue of the journal Science, reports National Geographic.
ANI